Lubbock Muslim community braces for backlash

MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

Friday

Feb 25, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Members of Lubbock's Muslim community reacted with surprise and dismay at the news of the arrest Wednesday of Saudi-born Lubbock resident Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Imam Samer Altabaa of the Islamic Center of the South Plains had just begun to contact people in the Saudi community when contacted for comment Thursday. He said he did not know Aldawsari and had not heard of him before the arrest. He also said that no one in the Saudi community seemed to know Aldawsari, who identified himself as Muslim on his Facebook page.

"They are shocked," he said of the people he contacted.

Ben Chidmi, M.A.K. Lodhi and Adil Farooq, who all came for the 2 p.m. prayer at the Islamic Student Center, said they did not know the suspected terrorist.

Chidmi and Lodhi tempered their comments with the caveat that Aldawsari is still a suspect and has not yet been proven guilty of the charges.

"They are just allegations," Chidmi said. "If it's true, I think the Muslim community condemns any action like that."

"We condemn violence and terrorism without reservations," said the Texas Tech University professor.

If the charges against Aldawsari are true, Altabaa said, the suspect's absence from the local Muslim community is no surprise.

The suspect would "want to stay away from everyone if he is really planning for something bad," Altabaa said.

"We like to give (a) plain message to everyone that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is a religion against terrorism or terrorists or any person who wants to terrify any human being," Altabaa said.

"These terrorist people, they never come to a mosque because they don't belong there," Altabaa said.

The Muslim community is bracing itself for possible retaliation. The Islamic Student Center has been vandalized multiple times, and Altabaa said Lubbock police have agreed to provide security in the coming days for the Islamic Center and the Islamic Student Center.

Altabaa said that retaliatory acts are often committed by people who do not know about Islam.

"We faced this before. We are afraid because there are some people that are ignorant or that don't have enough information about Islam."

Altabaa added, "They don't know that (Aldawsari) is an alien to Islam ... He is the enemy of humanity, not only the religion."

Lodhi, a professor of physics at Texas Tech, said that many Muslims have become accustomed to occasional acts of aggression directed toward them. Once, he said, an elderly man confronted him at the Islamic Student Center saying, "You Muslims should not be around here. You should go away."

"I try to explain that there is no threat, that Muslims are just as good as citizens in this country, as anybody could be," Lodhi said.

Nevertheless, Lodhi described his experience in Lubbock as being positive overall.

"I personally come across people who are very helpful, considerate and understanding," Lodhi said.

Farooq, a mechanical engineering student at Texas Tech, also had faith in the Lubbock community to act with nuance.

"My experience in Lubbock thus far has been good," he said. "These are just individual acts of violence that we should all work together and speak against."

Altabaa expressed appreciation for the role intelligence sources had in capturing the suspect.

"They are keeping our country safe from these terrorists," he said.

When asked about the Quran's stance on violent and terrorist acts, Altabaa responded, "The Quran always calls all Muslims to commit to peace, to live with peace, especially with non-Muslims."

He added, "God sent (Mohammed) to have mercy in the world, and to spread mercy on all creation of the world."

Quoting a translation of the Quran, Altabaa said, "Whoever kills one person, (it is as) if he killed all human beings; he is equal to a person who killed all human beings. And whoever saves one person's life, (it is as) if he saved all human beings. The Quran makes it clear to every Muslim."

"Muslims are people of peace," said the imam, "because this is what Islam means."

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